North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the country's ballistic missile launches and was said to be pleased with the unit's performance, according to KCNA.

World leaders were quick to condemn North Korea's actions.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, "The launches are consistent with North Korea's long history of provocative behavior. The United States stand with our allies in the face of this very serious threat.

"The Trump administration is taking steps to enhance our ability to defend against North Korea's ballistic missiles, such as through the deployment of a THAAD battery to South Korea."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters he and President Donald Trump talked by phone about 8 a.m. Tuesday local time (6 p.m. ET Monday) and agreed the missile launches were "a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions" and a threat to the international community.

President Trump also spoke Monday with the acting South Korean President Hwang Kyo-ahn to discuss North Korea's missile test, a US official says, in addition to the call with Abe.

The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss North Korea in closed consultations at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning. A planned Syria meeting was moved to 3 p.m.

Military authorities in South Korea, Japan and the United States confirmed the launch of four projectiles, which traveled almost 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). One US official said they were intermediate-range missiles.

This isn't the first time North Korea has launched multiple missiles over this distance.

In September 2016, North Korea launched three ballistic missiles about 1,000 kilometers to land in Japan's Air Defense Identification Zone, provoking a strong response.

CNN's Will Ripley and Junko Ogura in Tokyo, Lonzo Cook in Atlanta, Richard Roth in New York and Zahra Ullah in Hong Kong contributed to this report.